Innovation comes way before product

“What is new stuff, yet why is considering the whole ecosystem”

~ Dr Emma Ross, CSO @ The Well HQ

QWERTY. I haven’t done one of these in a while, but after a spellbinding trip through the tunnel it’s time to punch back in.

Myself and Gabriella recently landed in Lille’s Decathlon Village for the French sportswear giant’s Festival of Innovation, a two-day event for 400 creators, and an audience of thousands watching online.

The event offered a refreshing glimpse into how Decathlon thinks about innovation. Although its interests range from cosmetics to sportswear, equipment and nutrition, it’s clear the Decathlon MO is much more about solving problems.

Problems like access for those with additional needs. Problems like older folks’ mobility. Problems like making women feel welcome in sport. Oh Bonjour …

Beyond what to why

Part of our role with Decathlon is reviewing current female-centric sport-science literature, and another part is helping R&D and innovation teams turn insights into actions. AKA how they can use cutting edge research to inform and evolve business.

When you’re dealing with retailers, it’s often easy to assume that innovation is synonymous with product, but that’s largely erroneous. It’s at best half a story.

My keynote at Decathlon came at innovation from a place of why, not what. What is new stuff, yet why means considering the whole ecosystem – everything from user experience to shop-floor layouts, supply chains, staff expertise, websites, fitting rooms, access to info etc – and questioning how it works / doesn’t work for women.

TWHQ can add tremendous value by weaving scientific research into parts of business too often seen as soft, tertiary or peripheral. And a huge challenge herein is convincing brands that this isn’t fluffy or needless. This is step-change stuff.

Aptly serving female customers builds credibility and loyalty among high-spend groups which have, for a lifetime, been underserved and undervalued …

A whole lotta realism

So make no mistake, redesigning retail ecosystems for women is a staunchly commercial proposition. It also takes commitment, investment, and a lotta realism.

Realism. Yep, modern customers can smell bullsh*t at 10,000 paces so authenticity is key. The insides have to match the outs and seemingly worthy initiatives will stumble if back-of-house pay, conditions, maternity policies and sponsorship practices don’t jive with what’s up front; with what the billboards and posters say.

Also, because scores of factors influence, inhibit and impair female participation in exercise we can’t be naive enough to think we’ll solve all problems (in commercially viable ways) all at once. In some cases, the best brands can do is to offer customers education while retail chiefs continue to interrogate the status quo.

An example. Retailers require circa 50 bra size combinations to cover all eventualities but as solutions go, stocking 50 sizes is impractical and inefficient. The innovation here isn’t more bras but re-engineering them entirely for more adjustability.

Another wonderful step change question is this: why measure exercise in numbers?

Measure the treasure

I was blown away by a Decathlon initiative to measure exercise not in minutes, metres and miles – which feels targeted and competitive – but instead in joy.

Yes, joy. Decathlon’s Vital Movement project wants to find ways to promote, measure and celebrate the vitality, connection and value in movement types – think gardening, nature trails or dog walks – that people already like and can build into their lives.

More of what you love – it’s an amazing concept to encourage people to move more, and I hope TWHQ can support it as part of our work with Decathlon …

Because (as you can tell) I’m proud we’re here and able to help a forward-thinking retailer to shape future markets – and the market experience – for women. I’m also proud to be writing to you, and proud you’re here playing your part too.

We’ll get there. We will.

Emma